


The Greatest Gift

by dragonwings948



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Adventure, Birthday Party, Family, Fluff, Friendship, Mystery, Party, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-17
Updated: 2018-03-17
Packaged: 2019-04-01 10:31:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13996371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonwings948/pseuds/dragonwings948
Summary: The Doctor tries to find the perfect gift for Amy's birthday and things don't go exactly according to plan. But little does he realise that to Amy, the greatest gift is being able to spend time with her family and her best friend.





	The Greatest Gift

**Author's Note:**

> I finally got one of my best friends to watch Doctor Who and we started with 11's era. Now that I've seen almost his entire run over again, I have a new found love for 11 and his interactions with the Ponds and River. I wish there would have been more moments like this in the show, where they all just hang out.

            The Doctor strolled into his TARDIS after an eventful—and, if he had to admit it, exhausting—day.

            “Why does everyone love Earth so much?” he bemoaned as he strode straight to the control console. “It’s so _boring,_ small; their days are only twenty-four hours long! The natural resources are running out and politicians are destroying the planet…” He danced around the console, jiggling levers and pressing buttons as he went along.

            “So _why_ does everyone want to invade it?”

            He paused when only silence replied to his question. He looked around the empty console room. The TARDIS creaked and groaned somewhere deep inside its core.

            He wished more than anything that Amy and Rory were there.

            “Even I need a break sometimes,” the Doctor muttered, falling back into the jumpseat and feeling like there wasn’t an ounce of energy left inside of him. He ran a hand through his hair. As much as he tried to ignore it, the loneliness was getting to him. Even the thought of running to some far-off solar system to forget his troubles seemed dull.

            Well it _did_ , until his eyes focused on the Earth’s date and time reading displayed on the console.

            The Doctor jumped up and squinted at the date. Why was it so familiar? No, not familiar, _almost_ familiar…

            “Amy’s birthday,” he realised. He smiled to himself. “Amy’s birthday is tomorrow! Ha!”

            He slammed down the lever that set the TARDIS in motion. The time rotor pumped up and down and the engines joined the chaos by emitting the wheezing, grating noise that the Doctor loved. As soon as the boom of the cloister bell announced the TARDIS’ arrival, the Doctor jogged to the doors, threw them open, and stepped outside to find…

            …a museum?

            “Oi!” he protested, turning back to face the TARDIS. “This isn’t the Akhaten market!”

            As if in reply, the TARDIS doors slammed shut on their own. The Doctor pushed on the handle, but the doors didn’t budge. He frowned at the time and space machine.

            “Fine. But if I get into trouble, I’m blaming you.”

            He spun back around to fully take in his surroundings. The TARDIS had placed him just in front of the Zayn Galactic Museum’s Gift Shop. Though it was hardly an adequate replacement for the universally famous market on the planet Akhaten, he couldn’t deny that he liked museum gift shops. Maybe, just maybe, he could find something for Amy here.

            “Umbrella?” he muttered to himself as he picked one up and popped it open. It displayed a famous painting of some alien dignitary or other, though he couldn’t remember why it was so important.

            He shook his head and put it back. He needed to find something special for Amy. Something she would really love. Something like…

            “Like this!” The Doctor snatched up a postcard featuring an exhibit in the museum. He had heard of it, though up until now it had just been a useless little piece of information stored in the back of his brain.

            “Supposedly the best bottle of wine in the universe, and one of the oldest,” he murmured to himself. “Perfectly engineered by the Craetolians so that it stays fresh forever, never decomposing. It’s a shame, really, that it’s just sitting there for people to stare at, when someone could be enjoying it…”

            _Someone like Amy._

            The Doctor threw the postcard over his shoulder and ran back into the TARDIS, whose doors opened freely.

            He was going to steal the most famous bottle of wine in the universe for his best friend.

           

            The Doctor normally didn’t condone stealing (unless it was a jammie dodger or a fez, in which cases some exceptions could be made). Therefore, he couldn’t remember a time when he had dressed in all black, worn a mask over his face, and planned an elaborate plan to steal from a museum.

            Well, he said _elaborate,_ but it was really quite simple to someone who owned a time and space machine—and a sonic screwdriver.

            The Doctor landed the TARDIS expertly in a janitor’s closet, knowing that the janitor’s shift wouldn’t start for another half hour. Plenty of time.

            He exited the closet on tiptoes and spotted a guard waving a flashlight down the corridor. He looked to his left and saw a tea exhibit. He was close, exactly where he wanted to be.

            Everything went without a hitch. He avoided the guards, used the sonic screwdriver to disable the security cameras, and then easily broke into the back of the exhibit to steal the wine bottle and replace it with an exact replica. No one would even know it was any different; unless someone else tried to steal it, of course, in which case they would taste the Doctor’s favourite grape soda inside the bottle. At least it wouldn’t be a complete disappointment.

            When the Doctor got back to the TARDIS, he immediately ran to the console and set the ship in motion. Once the engines started up he sighed with relief, leaned back against one of the railings, and examined the treasure he had stolen. Interestingly enough, the first thing he noticed was that his hands had easily brushed off some of the dust and grime caked onto the bottle.

            “Wait,” he muttered, rubbing it off some more. Underneath the dustiness was a brand new green wine bottle.

            It was supposed to be thousands of years old.

            He felt that the label was a little loose, so he tore it off with curiosity. On the back was written “Nice try,” followed by two kisses and the signature “BB.”

            Someone had already stolen it.

            “Bee-Bee?” the Doctor muttered to himself, setting the bottle down a little too hard on the console. “I know that name…”

            After a moment of thinking he snapped his fingers. “Bee-Bee, the Black Bandit. Known as a notorious burglar across several galaxies. Never shows his face—or _her,_ or… _their_ —or speaks. Supposed to be untraceable. But the Black Bandit has never crossed me.”

            He eagerly leapt to the console to punch in coordinates, and though he was disappointed about the wine, he felt a thrill of purpose. Finally, he had something meaningful to do.

            “It’s time to call in a few favours, old girl,” he said to the TARDIS.

 

            The Doctor traced all over the nearest six galaxies, questioning, bargaining, and asking for any information on the whereabouts of the Black Bandit. He heard several different stories, but eventually his information led him to a small volcanic planet named as half the other volcanically active planets in the universe were named: Vulcan.

            It wasn’t an ideal place for a meeting, but it _was_ ideal for a galactic criminal trying to find a place to hide. The TARDIS landed on the doorstep of the Bandit’s lair, as if she had already known exactly where it was.

            The Doctor didn’t question it. Instead, he strolled right into the natural cave opening wedged at the base of an active volcano. The Doctor could feel a slight tremor underneath his feet at all times, as if the planet itself was going to blow any second. Harsh gusts of warm air buffeted his face and he licked his lips in a vain attempt to try and keep them moistened.

            Even though he was the Doctor, the man who wasn’t afraid of anything, this place set him on edge.

            “I’m here to speak to the Black Bandit,” he called as he entered the cave. An odd assortment of treasure littered the tunnels inside. What did the Bandit do with all of it? Just hoard it?

            “It’s all right if you don’t speak,” he continued, his voice echoing off the curved stone walls. “I know sign language.” He frowned. “At least, I used to. Probably still do. Maybe.”

            “Why are you here?” The menacing voice reverberated all throughout the cave, becoming darker and stranger each time it repeated itself in the Doctor’s ears. But the Doctor knew a voice manipulator when he heard one, and though it was supposed to inspire fear, it only made the Doctor more curious.

            “Oh, so you do talk!” He continued further into the cave, examining the Bandit’s trove as he went. Paintings, gold, instruments, pottery, jewels… “I’m here to bargain.”

            “What makes you think I’d let you live now that you’ve found my hiding place, much less strike a bargain with you?” Strangely enough, the voice didn’t sound any closer. The Doctor looked over his shoulder to see that he was deeper into the tunnels now, so much so that he couldn’t see the light outside anymore. His shirt clung to his skin and he felt sweat beading on his forehead.

            “Because I did find it. And you know that because I found it, I’m not just any old lifeform. I’ve been around, Bandit, and I’ve been to more planets than you’ve ever dreamt of. And I have something of value that I think you’ll like.” He reached into his pocket and produced an advanced micro-processing chip from 51st century Earth; something he had had lying around for a while in the TARDIS. He held it out in his open palm and straightened his bowtie with his other hand. “These were all destroyed in a Sontaran invasion attempt; all of them but this one. Its value is almost immeasurable.”

            Out of the shadows the Bandit suddenly appeared, cloaked in black like a living and breathing shadow. The hooded head leaned down towards the Doctor’s hand until a chuckle rose up through that awful voice manipulator.

            “And what would you want in return?”

            “A bottle of wine. A very specific one that you stole from the Zayn Museum.”

            The Bandit laughed harder still. “Ah, so you tried to steal it too, did you? It doesn’t make you much different from me, does it, Doctor?”

            The Doctor impulsively took a step back. “How do you know me?”

            Instead the Bandit replied, “I reject your offer. This volcano will erupt in two minutes. I suggest you get a move on.” Then just like that the Bandit was gone in a puff of sparking smoke. The Doctor inhaled a deep breath, coughed, and then groaned.

            “Vortex manipulator,” he muttered. “I should collect them all and burn them.”

            Then the rumbling grew louder, and the Doctor did what he did best.

            He ran.

 

            The Doctor stared at the wrapped gift in front of him.

            It wasn’t much; it wasn’t the best wine in the universe anyway, but he hoped Amy would like it. Some herbal tea from Freit, a planet that was renowned for making some of the best tea blends in its galaxy, and a TARDIS blue scarf from the Akhaten market.

            As the engines announced the arrival at Amy and Rory’s house, the Doctor couldn’t help but feel a little put out. He had put so much effort into this present for Amy (including almost being blown up by a volcano) for nothing.

            But the moment the TARDIS doors burst open, the Doctor forgot about his disappointment.

            “Doctor!” Amy cried, running straight into his arms. She gave him a bone-crushing hug and laughed.

            “Happy birthday, Pond!” the Doctor exclaimed, hugging her back just as tightly.

            Amy pulled away after a moment and grinned as she looked into his eyes. “You’ve been away too long, raggedy man.”

            “Yeah, I was starting to think that Earth was actually _safe_ for once,” Rory added from the walkway to the console.

            “Rory!” The Doctor walked over to him and put his hands on his shoulders. “The Earth is always safe.” He touched the tip of Rory’s nose and earned a confused frown in return.

            “Are you really just here for me?” Amy asked.

            The Doctor turned around and clapped his hands together. “Of course I am. I even brought a present and everything.”

            Her eyes darted over to the gift sitting on the console, but only for a moment. “I don’t care about presents. You’re here.” She ran forward and hugged him again.

            While Amy’s attention seemed to warm his very soul, a deep pit of worry settled itself in his stomach. There was something he had to ask, but he was afraid of the answer. “How long has it been?”

            “Two years,” Rory answered.

            There was silence for a few moments. Amy stepped back from the Doctor, her smile fading.

            “Two years,” the Doctor repeated softly. The blink of an eye to him. An eternity to a human being.

            Amy’s enthusiasm seemed to suddenly return in full force as she smiled once more. “But now you’re here, so it doesn’t matter. Come on! Rory got cake.”

            “Ooh! I love cake!” They all exited the TARDIS as the gift that the Doctor had brought sat abandoned on the console.

 

            In the middle of cake and catching up, an electric tingle sparked in the air. The Doctor thought of the Bandit for a moment, but became even more distressed as a massive mane of curls and dangerous red lips materialised in the living room.

            “River?” Rory said, staring with his mouth open.

            Amy smiled wide and threw her arms around her daughter, who chuckled and hugged Amy back. “Happy birthday, mother,” she said softly.

            Her voice put the Doctor more at ease. River rarely ever spoke with anything but forcefulness and authority, but there was a softness and humility in her voice when she spoke to Amy that he had never heard in her before. She had a special respect for Amy, the Doctor had come to realise. River had discovered that much of who she was had come from that fiery Scottish blood, despite the regenerations.

            “Are you crying?”

            River’s question pulled the Doctor from his thoughts and he watched Amy quickly wipe her eyes. “No.” She sniffed as she laughed. “Definitely not crying.”

            Rory came up behind her and rubbed his hands up and down her arms. He smiled and kissed the side of her head.

            “I’m just really happy that you’re both here,” she explained, looking between the Doctor and River. “That was all I wanted on my birthday and I didn’t think it would happen. I’ve been waiting so long for us all to be together again and now…” She grinned through more tears. “It’s like my wish came true.”

            _The girl who waited._ It was so unfair that she continually had to wait to see her best friend and her own daughter. He couldn’t help but feel guilty; it was all his fault.

            “Well, I’ve brought something exquisite to celebrate the occasion.” River set a gift bag on the kitchen counter and pulled a bottle of wine out of it.

            And not just _a_ bottle of wine, but _the_ bottle of wine.

            The Doctor just stared at it for a moment. “But— But how did you—?”

            “—come across the best bottle of wine in the universe? I stole it from a museum, of course.” She smirked at him with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.

            “You,” he breathed. _“You’re_ the Black Bandit?”

            “The what?” Amy asked.

            “Just a side job,” River said with a shrug and a wink cast at the Doctor.

            The Doctor was overcome with indignation and embarrassment. The whole time it had been River. The whole time she had known it was him, that he had wanted the wine, and probably even what he had wanted it for.

            “River,” he growled, coming to stand toe to toe with her, “you did all of that on _purpose.”_

            “Well, the wine is here, isn’t it? And it’s a good thing for you I stole it first, because it had all sorts of safeguards on it that _you_ would have set off in your pathetic burglary attempt.”

            “Are…we supposed to know what’s going on right now?” Rory asked.

            “I wouldn’t ask,” Amy muttered, and the Doctor glanced over in time to see her roll her eyes.

            “Now hush, sweetie,” River continued, “we shouldn’t argue on mummy’s birthday.”

            The Doctor sighed, still glaring at her. He hated how well she could play him, how she could always be one step ahead. How did she manage it every single time?

            “Yeah,” Amy agreed, walking up and putting an arm across each of their shoulders. “We’re all here, and it’s time to party!”

            It was an unusual party by human standards, even looking beyond the fact that the attendees were a two thousand year old Roman soldier, a woman who had almost died and then been put in a giant box for two thousand years, their daughter who had died twice already and was older than both of her parents, and a time lord who was the last of his kind and traveled around time and space in a police box. The “party” consisted of eating cake, drinking wine (except for the Doctor, who took one sip out of curiosity and then surrendered the rest to Amy, claiming that wine all tasted the same), watching sci-fi movies, and playing games on the Wii late into the night, shouting, laughing, talking, and bantering all the while.

            At one point, while Amy and Rory left to make popcorn for the next film, the Doctor and River remained alone in the living room. The Doctor obstinately stared at the DVD menu screen of _The Empire Strikes Back,_ trying not to think about how River was right next to him. He was still trying to be cross—he had every right to be, anyway—but there was something that kept nagging at him, reminding him that he never knew how much time with River he had left.

            “You’re not still mad, are you?” River asked, sounding unimpressed.

            “You made a fool of me, River,” he muttered.

            River laughed, long and hard. “You say that like it’s something new,” she said in between bouts of laughter.

            He recalled the first time she had kissed him, how the suddenness of it had made his stomach flip-flop and the touch of her lips had set off blaring alarms in his head. He smiled a little.

            “So, am I forgiven?” River asked.

            The Doctor finally relented and turned his head to look at her playful smile. He couldn’t remain upset; he missed her far too much. And he couldn’t help but wonder: what if this was the last time he would ever see her?

            “I meant what I said,” the Doctor replied. He took her hand and lifted it to his lips, placing a soft kiss to her knuckles. “Always and completely.”

            It was the moments like these that the Doctor cherished in their relationship, when River’s mischievous expression dropped and he knew that, for once, she hadn’t predicted his every move. Her smile faded and a look of wonder was left in her eyes. Without a word she slipped her hand from his grasp and moved it to the back of his head, using it as an anchor to pull herself closer to him. The Doctor lifted a hand to her face and shifted her hair out of the way so he could close the space between them and kiss her.

            By some mutual agreement it was a delicate kiss that lasted for only a moment. As they both retreated, albeit only a couple inches, the Doctor smiled as he saw that River’s eyes were still closed. He brushed his thumb over her cheek and River blinked at him, pressing her lips together.

            “It’s been a long time, sweetie.”

            For the second time that day he found himself faced with the terrible question he knew he had to ask. “How long?”

            “Oh, you know.” She laughed lightly. “Fifty years or so.” But there was no trace of mirth in her eyes; only pain.

            “River,” he breathed. He couldn’t begin to express how sorry he was, how much he had missed her wild hair and her spoilers. He knew that he would never be able to make it up to her. And yet, that was what their relationship amounted to: him ignoring her and then constantly trying to make up for it.

            This was one of those times. The Doctor kissed her again but wanted to make it something she would remember. Even he lost track of time—and for a time lord, that was something—as River fisted her fingers in his hair in an effort to try and pull him impossibly closer.

            “Ugh!” Amy groaned. “We left you two alone for five minutes.”

            “Three,” Rory corrected from beside her.

            The Doctor pulled away from River and scratched his cheek absently, feeling warmth creep up his neck. He could still feel the ghost of her lips on his. River grinned over at him like they had shared a secret; of course, she wasn’t embarrassed in the slightest.

            The Doctor looked for anything to do other than look at River Song and grabbed his water glass from the coffee table. He started to take a sip as Amy continued,

            “Don’t make me separate you two.” She set the bowl of popcorn on the table and looked at both River and the Doctor disapprovingly. “I don’t want to know what you get up to when you’re knocking about out there,” she said, gesturing above their heads.

            River just chuckled as she brought a glass of wine to her lips. “No, you really don’t.”

            The Doctor choked on his water and coughed, just staring at River. So much for subtlety, then.

            “Okay,” Amy said, grabbing the glass from her River’s hand, “and that’s enough wine for my daughter.”

            But they all knew full well that River would have spoken the same way even if she hadn’t already downed over two glasses of wine.

            And so the lighthearted night continued on without any discussion of the past or the future. They simply lived in the moment, glad to be together, because they didn’t know when this chance would ever come again.

            Sometime in the very early hours of the morning, Amy, Rory, and River all fell asleep next to each other on the couch. The Doctor almost felt himself dropping off too, and he thought that it was best for him to go before he had to face the thing he hated the most: goodbye.

            He got up carefully, trying not to jostle the couch cushions, and tiptoed over to the staircase. As he raised his foot to start climbing the stairs, a voice stopped him.

            “Doctor.”

            The Doctor spun around slowly, like a child who knew he was about to get scolded. Amy stood in front of him, dark rings under her eyes and her lips pressed into a hard frown. “Where do you think you’re going?”

            His mind worked quickly to think of an excuse. “Just have to pop up to the TARDIS to get something. Your gift,” he realised, since he had never actually given it it to her.

            “Really?” Amy said, raising an eyebrow. “Because I think you’re trying to leave without saying goodbye.”

            “Of course not. I always say goodbye to you.”

            “Not always.” The teasing faded from her face. She stepped forward and grabbed him in a hug, one that the Doctor was only too willing to return. Once again he found himself wondering when he would see her next.

            “Thank you,” she said as she pulled away, smiling. “It was the best birthday I’ve ever had.”

            The Doctor grinned in return. “I’ll see you soon, eh?” He placed his hand on the side of her head. “I’ll always come back to you, Amelia Pond.”

            “You better.” She stepped back, clearly allowing him to go.

            The Doctor gave her one last smile before turning to go up the stairs and enter the guest room where the TARDIS had landed. As he walked into his time and space machine he saw Amy’s present sitting on the console.

            He stared at it for a moment, but his hearts compressed at the thought of having to say goodbye again. Instead, he removed the present and stored it away.

Besides, he could always use it for next year.

            His feet dragged as he walked through one of the TARDIS’ seemingly endless corridors. Somehow, despite the time he had just spent with the Ponds, he felt more alone than ever.

            The Doctor huffed in an ironic chuckle. That was him, all right. He always ended up alone in the end.

            And it seemed like he always would.

           


End file.
